- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush admitted on Thursday that
his bellicose "bring 'em on" taunt to Iraqi insurgents was a
big mistake, as he and British Prime Minister Tony Blair carefully avoided
setting a timetable for removing troops from Iraq.
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- Meeting at a time when a new Iraqi unity
government offers the promise of a way out of an unpopular war that has
damaged their standings at home, Bush and Blair were remarkably reflective
on some of the grievous mistakes that critics say has intensified anti-American
sentiment in the Middle East.
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- At a joint news conference with Blair,
after three years of war that has killed more than 2,400 Americans and
thousands of Iraqis, Bush was asked what mistake he most regretted.
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- The Texan said that he regretted saying
"bring 'em on" when responding in July 2003 to a question about
the Iraqi insurgency.
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- On Thursday, Bush said the remark was
"kind of tough talk, you know, that sent the wrong message to people."
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- "I learned some lessons about expressing
myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner, you know. "Wanted,
dead or alive"; that kind of talk. I think in certain parts of the
world it was misinterpreted," he said.
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- He also cited the Abu Ghraib prison abuse
scandal as "the biggest mistake that's happened so far, at least from
our country's involvement in Iraq ... We've been paying for that for a
long period of time," he said.
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- Blair said the effort to rid Iraq's army
of members of Saddam Hussein's Baathists -- a process called "de-Baathification
-- could have been done better.
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- "I think it's easy to go back over
mistakes that we may have made. But the biggest reason why Iraq has been
difficult is the determination by our opponents to defeat us. And I don't
think we should be surprised at that," Blair said.
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- PRIME MINISTER'S GOAL
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- The two leaders are under pressure at
home to show progress in Iraq so they can start withdrawing their forces.
There are now about 132,000 U.S. troops and 8,000 British troops in the
chaotic country.
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- Blair said he believed it was possible
to meet new Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's goal of having Iraqi
security forces in control of all of Iraq by the end of 2007.
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- "Listen, I want our troops out --
don't get me wrong," said Bush. "But I also understand that it
is vital that we do the job, that we complete the mission."
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- He said he would consult with his military
commanders in Iraq about the security situation, as well as with the new
Iraqi government about its needs and that any decision would be made based
on the conditions on the ground.
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- Blair said that "Inevitably, over
time, we have to transfer responsibility" because it will be easier
for an Iraqi interior minister "who is the product of an Iraqi-elected
government to go in and take the really tough measures sometimes that is
necessary to sort some of these issues out."
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- But as for now, he said, "This directly
elected Iraqi government has said they want us to stay until the job is
done."
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- Both leaders acknowledged the decision
to invade Iraq in 2003 had been divisive, but agreed it was time to look
to the future now that the Iraqis had gone to the polls and freely elected
a new government.
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- "It is our duty, but it is also
the duty of the whole international community to get behind this government
and support it," Blair said.
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- In Baghdad, gunmen shot and seriously
wounded a senior Defense Ministry official, in what appeared to be part
of a campaign to target top figures in Iraq's U.S.-backed administration.
It was a reminder of the uphill struggle Maliki faces.
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- The new prime minister, in an interview
with Arabiya television, said there was no reason for the array of armed
gangs and militias in Iraq, now that the country had an elected government.
He said the real problem for the government was the armed gangs, rather
than the organized militias.
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- British Prime Minister Tony Blair (L)
looks to President George W. Bush during a news conference in the East
Room of the White House in Washington, May 25, 2006. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
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